"Linked"
Rukia raced through the Seireitei. She had already gotten Unohana for her brother and even though she was worried about him, she knew he was in good hands. For now she needed to find Captain Commander Yamamoto. The Bloodling had infiltrated the Seireitei, something that was impossible. But the evidence was as clear as the blood stains on the Kuchiki estate dining room floor. This wasn't a strong Bloodling either. Not one of the evolved types, but a recently turned one. It made her think that maybe one of the residents had been turned, which was once again impossible without inside influence. The more she thought about the situation the more she felt like something dreadful was about to happen and all because they had a rat in their ranks. She moved quickly through the streets and when too many people crowded around her she took to the rooftops, using her superior speed and strength to launch herself from roof to roof. When the First division came into view she picked up her speed.
As she landed at the main gates to the Division she stood in front of the large wooden doors to catch her breath. Sensing her approach, Chōjirō Sasakibe was already waiting for her. His stance was upright as he looked down at her. His golden eyes far older then her own purple ones, even his hair had turned white with age.
"A Bloodling made it into the Kuchiki Estate. It has been disposed of, but we are not sure as to how it made it so far into the Seireitei undetected." That made the Lieutenant still and tense as he turned on his heel to head inside, informing her to follow.
They quickly made their way through the First division to what was known as Yamamoto's office. Once inside she knelt on her knee until he informed her to rise.
"A Bloodling made it in to the Seireitei and attacked someone in the Kuchiki Estate. We have disposed of it, but I believe a thorough investigation on how the creature gained entry is in order." Even though Yamamoto seemed unfazed by her word and sat calmly behind his desk, she knew he was mulling over the information. It was unheard of for a Bloodling to make it past their defenses. Taking a deep breath she calmed her nerves for the next thing she said could get her killed.
"I have a theory on how it had made it through. I believe someone turned one of the residents of the Seireitei." She held her ground as those sharp black eyes landed on her. Only those of captain statues had the ability to turn someone and to purposely turn someone into a Bloodling was strictly forbidden. All captains knew that and vowed never to commit such an act, yet she had just suggested that one had done just that.
"Call a Captains Meeting." Rukia sighed at that and relaxed, he had considered her words and found them logical even if he did not wish to believe one of his captains would commit such a cruel crime.
"Captain Commander, while I am here I should tell you that Kuchiki-Taicho will not be able to attend. Before I arrived I was sent to retrieve Unohana. It seems that he has been affected by something that is causing his hunger to spike dangerously." The look she got from the commander had her instantly shut her mouth and fear for her life.
Strange, wasn't he just on the brink of frenzy? Why did he feel so calm if that was true? Had he been disposed of and this was the lingering felling of his existence finally giving out over so many years? If that was true why did it feel like someone was shaking him and calling his name? Slowly he peeled his eyes open. Instead of darkness that he was expecting he was greeted with a blinding light that made him cringe and shut his eyes. He heard someone laugh at him and opened his eyes to glare in the person's direction. The laughter only became more pronounced as it seemed Kurotsuchi was finding some kind of amusement from Byakuya's current situation.
"The noble Byakuya Kuchiki flustered over mere half breed blood. Oh this is priceless. Who would have thought?" Byakuya felt his eye twitch at that statement and his glare intensified. The sound of flesh hitting flesh made a soft smirk appear on his lips, even if only for a split second. He looked at Unohana, who had promptly smacked the craze scientist upside his head for his remark, one that slowly started to sink in.
"Explain" He demanded of the two as he laid still, restrained in his own bed.
Unohana looked at him with that kind smile and approached him, removing the binding Kido and even the leather restraints that were around his wrist and ankles. He was grateful for being set free and slowly sat up, careful not to over exert himself in case he wasn't cured. Unohana sat on the bed beside him and he almost felt like a child that was about to be given some bad news by their mother.
"Congratulations Kuchiki-sama." Byakuya stared at her, blinking a few times as his mind faltered. Congratulations? On what? She couldn't mean….no! There was no way. He looked to the grinning scientist and that only confirmed his suspicion. Touching his forehead as he felt a headache start to form he sighed. This was much worse than he had thought. This had be some kind of joke and he was not amused in any way shape or form. When he felt fear spike in his system he growled, that confirmed it. Quickly stepping off the bed he headed for the door, only to have Unohana stop him with a gentle hand.
"Don't be harsh on the boy. He has just been informed of this world; he'll need some time to adjust. If what we believe is true, having him scared of you will not work in either of your best interests." Byakuya nodded at her wise words. He knew that if the boy became anymore fearful of him that both of them would be in a situation that neither of them would want to be in. But then again, he was sure the boy would never want to be in any kind of situation with him. How troublesome. When the fear transformed into pure rage Byakuya knew it was time to take his leave and find the orange berry before someone was killed.
Kisuke dodged another clawed hand aimed at his chest. Already the orangette had landed a few hits on him. His left arm stung, thankfully the blood had clotted and already the wound was healing. Too bad the claw marks that ran down his back weren't healing as quickly as he had hoped. The marks raked down from his left shoulder all the way do to his right ass cheek. The boy had caught him again and nearly dominated him. Thankfully, Tessai had just enough energy left to send a Kido blast at the boy before promptly passing out. The boy was determined; Kisuke had to give him that. But then again this was his pure vampiric side that he was talking about. Now if only he could make the boy gain control once again so he could show him how to channel that power in a less… aggressive manner.
Kisuke cursed as he fell backwards, not paying attention to his surroundings and hitting the back of his leg against a rock. He flipped his body to once again land on his feet and successfully dodge yet another attack from the younger male. Kisuke looked around the training ground and smirked. Jumping over Ichigo he travelled near the hot spring once again and once he knew the boy was in the right spot he jumped into the air, this time standing on it like it was solid. The boy was clearly angered by this as he roared at him again. This didn't last long though as five points around the training ground lit up with a yellow circle and one under the boy flared up, successfully trapping the boy in a Kido binding cage.
Kisuke stayed in the air for a while, to make sure the boy couldn't break through, he doubted he could, but with how surprisingly strong the boy was he wasn't going to underestimate Ichigo again. After the pale Ichigo slammed himself against the yellow translucent walls of his cage and didn't even crack them Kisuke knew it was safe to land on the ground once again. He calmly walked over to Tessai who was still lying half in the hot spring. The spring was already healing his multiple wounds, but he was still out. He stepped into the spring and moved the large male around until he was almost fully in the spring, his head leaning against the rock side so he didn't drown. He looked back up at Ichigo who was still trying to get out of the cage.
Dipping his body into the water, he let the water wash over his sore body before exiting the spring and stepping a few feet from the Kido cage. As soon as Ichigo saw him he stilled and just stared at him. Kisuke used this time to better examine Ichigo and his transformation. At first only his hair color, eyes and skin color had changed, but now his nails where longer and almost looked like blades on their own. His white hair grew in length, even going as far to travel to his hips. He had defined fangs that were currently being bared at him in a snarl. What was most intriguing was the fact that the boys scent had completely changed as well, as if he was an entirely new person.
Before his transformation, Kisuke had had a hard time sensing any vampiric blood in Ichigo as it was overpowered by his natural scent of chocolate, spices and honey clover. But now if he had not known beforehand that the boy was a half breed, he would have thought him to be a vampire and a pure blood one at that. He knew Isshin wasn't a pure blood, but the sheer amount of power that was radiating from Ichigo would have fooled anyone. Yes, with the proper training this boy would surpass many of the Gotei 13. If only he could learn to control his instincts instead of letting them take over.
As Kisuke was pondering how to get the boy to control his vampiric side, he hadn't noticed that someone had entered his shop or that they had come into the training ground and were currently looking over his shoulder at the boy as well. The sound of someone clearing their throat brought his attention back to the real world, and calmly he looked over at the newcomer, surprised to see that it was Byakuya. The raven just looked at him with his stone cold mask and Urahara smirked at him. Well it seemed that Byakuya was much better now. How Unohana had cured him he would have to ask later, though he already deduced that it had to do with the blood Nemu had collected when Ichigo was knocked out earlier. For now he needed to make Ichigo revert back to normal self and he wasn't quite sure on how to do it without dominating the boy.
Byakuya stepped into the shop that he knew Urahara owned and when he was not greeted he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He found Urahara's scent, but he could also smell something else and lots of blood. He quickly moved through the shop to the back where the scent was stronger and when he reached a hole in the floor he wasted no time jumping down it. When he landed he found himself in an underground training area that seemed rather beat up. Clearly it had been used recently. The main thing that grabbed his attention was the Kido five point cage. Something must have gone wrong for Kisuke to have used such a high powered Binding Kido. He calmly started towards the pillar of yellow light in the middle of the training ground.
As he approached his destination he couldn't help but shake his head. He could see Kisuke and all his nakedness. Did the man have no shame? Clearly not. As he walked by a spring he noticed that Tessai was out cold and healing in the spring. That was strange, Tessai was hurt? By what? He also spotted Kisuke's clothing and decided to grab his green jacket to at least offer the man some form of coverage. Once he retrieved the clothing he headed towards the blonde male once again. As he stepped closer to the blonde and the cage, the scent he couldn't identify became stronger as well.
The scent seemed familiar, but at the same time unfamiliar. He could tell it was a pure blood so he guessed it might be someone from one of the noble families that he had met some time ago. As he came close enough to see who was in the cage he hesitated to take another step forward. The….thing in the cage wasn't a pure blood. No pure blood would take on such an appearance. It was almost as if the creature was a mix between a Bloodling and a vampire. Maybe Kisuke had been doing some experiments he shouldn't be. Stepping just behind the blonde he cleared his throat, gaining Urahara's attention, if only for a moment before his attention was once again directed towards the caged male.
Sighing softly he draped the jacket over Urahara's shoulders, coving him up, though Byakuya did notice the rather ragged claw marks on his back, they were healing quickly so he didn't bother to question.
"Byakuya, maybe you can help me? It seems I'm in a bit of a bind." Urahara finally said after the creature in the cage turned its attention to Byakuya. When those golden eyes swimming in black onyx latched onto his steel greys Byakuya felt the sense of familiarity spike. Where in the world did he meet this creature? He was sure he would have remembered such an imposing vampire.
"You see it seems I pushed a certain berry a little too far and I haven't a clue on how to calm him down." Byakuya glanced over at Urahara and connected the pieces.
So Urahara had made Ichigo snap and awakened his vampiric side. That would explain the pure rage that he was felling through the blood link he had with Ichigo and why he felt like he knew the creature in the cage. Strange, Byakuya hadn't known of any half breed that could tap into so much of their vampiric blood to gain the strength of a pure blood. The most a half breed could do was maybe low level Kido's. But it seemed like Ichigo had tapped into his vampire blood so much so that he had become a pure blood and an angry one at that. Byakuya considered the options. Most pure bloods that went into a frenzy were dangerous to be around. Most of the time when a pure blood went into a frenzy one would have to restrain them until they regained control or give them what they wanted or there was the rare case of another pure blood giving their blood to the other and creating a blood link and forcing the other to calm down. Byakuya already had a link with him and if the other drank his blood the link would become full circle. But if he did that, Ichigo would surely become a ghoul and Isshin would have his head if that happened. As if he had known he was being thought about, Ichigo's father was suddenly there, and he was angry.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY SON!" his voice bellowed and echoed through the training ground as he glared darkly at Urahara, who held his hands up in surrender. Without letting Urahara even speak Isshin moved toward the Kido cage and punched the yellow wall. Surprisingly his fist shattered the Kido cage and slammed right into Ichigo's face, sending him flying backwards.
"ICHIGO! Are you really going to let your old man bet you like this? Come on, control yourself and show me what you can really do." Isshin taunted Ichigo, and Byakuya stared at the male like he was crazy. The boy was in a frenzy and Isshin had just taunted him.
Byakuya wasn't surprised with Ichigo growled and launched himself at his father, fully intending to rip his father apart. In his blind rage though, Isshin easily dodged and landed another hit on the boy; an elbow right to his lower back.
"Pussy! You can't even touch me in your current state. Come on son, I trained you better than this." Another growl of anger from the boy and Byakuya noticed that the black in his eyes were slowly fading back to white and even his skin was starting to regain its sun-kissed color. Was this really helping Ichigo regain control? What a strange method.
Ichigo felt pure rage running through his body and no matter what he did he couldn't calm himself down. Everything was black and he couldn't hear anything. He could only feel anger and every once in a while a little pain. He struggled to regain control of his body. When he couldn't he started to panic and that panic caused more anger to came forth until it consumed him. He felt like he was drowning in a sea of red rage and no matter how much he tried to swim to the surface he just couldn't reach it. He fell deeper into the red, until he forgot everything except the rage.
"I..chi….go….."
"Ichi….go…" Someone was calling him; they had to be, but whom?
"Ichigo!" Snapping his eyes open he took in a deep breath instantly sitting up, successfully slamming his head against something hard and falling backwards to cradle his throbbing head. He let out a painful groan as the pain in his body became more pronounced, alongside his splitting headache. He heard someone else in pain and concluded that he had just slammed his head against someone else's.
"Get him into the spring!" That voice he knew, it was Urahara. Wait Urahara. That's right he had just moments ago tried to molest him. Ichigo instantly moved then, fully intending to bolt away from the perverted old man. He made it a few feet away before strong arms wrapped around his waist and through him over a rather bony shoulder. Air left his lungs as the shoulder met his gut. Just as soon as he had been put on the shoulder he was thrown from it and felt hot water engulf him. He quickly moved to the surface coughing out the water he had sucked up from his surprised scream as he had been thrown.
"What the hell, I could have drowned you….. Dad?" Ichigo stared stunned as his father stood at the edge of the hot spring, his face set in a stern fatherly way as if to scold his child for doing something wrong. Ichigo instantly felt guilty and quickly looked away from his dad as the last words he had said to his father resurfaced in his mind.
"Now listen up you brat! What the hell do you think you're doing losing control like that? Do you know what could have happened to you?" Ichigo tensed at that and shot his father a glare.
"No I don't! Remember you never told me jack shit about anything, so how the hell am I supposed to know what would have happened to me if I lost control!" Ichigo shot back and that familiar scowl appeared on his face.
"Well if you hadn't been such a little prick I would have told you!"
"Well if I had grown up knowing what I was, maybe I would have listened and not panicked like I did the other night!"
"Well if you weren't such a stubborn child I wouldn't have left to panic and could have been there for you!"
"Now, now. No need to bicker like an old married couple." Kisuke said earning himself a glare from both Ichigo and Isshin, which quickly turned into horrified stares. Kisuke had posed in such a way that Ichigo felt heat rising to his face again before a large hand suddenly blocked his view of the rather provocative pose.
"What the hell Kisuke! Do you want me to kick your ass!" Isshin said and Ichigo couldn't help but laugh at his dad. Despite the other night and being a royal ass to Isshin, he still protected him like any father would and Ichigo just found it humorous. Isshin looked at his son for a moment before rubbing the back of his head.
"Listen brat, I know I should have told you sooner, but I didn't want you to be sucked into this world, I just wanted to protect you." Ichigo looked up at his dad and sighed softly.
"No need to apologize, I over reacted. I know you were only trying to protect the family." Isshin smiled down at his son. He suddenly latched onto his son, giving him a bear hug which Ichigo of course reacted to it by kicking his dad away from him, earning a laugh from the man and making Ichigo smile slightly, glad that he had one less thing on his mind.
"Holy crap, what happened here?" Ichigo suddenly said as he noticed the training ground was torn apart and even Tessai was hurt. He looked to Urahara who was laughing nervously and rubbing the back of his head.
Byakuya definitely felt out of place in this situation. As Ichigo got his ass handed to him by a very pissed off father he couldn't help but feel like he needed to jump in and defend the younger male. He knew he couldn't because Ichigo was still not in control of his instincts. He was gaining control of them at a steady pace and that was a good sign and the more he gained control the more Byakuya started to notice the boy. Sure, he had seen him before hand, but the full extent of his bare body exposed had Byakuya's full attention.
When he had come into the dining room without a shirt, he had been able to look away with sheer force of will, but now, he didn't think he would be able to look away if his life depended on it. Just watching Ichigo fight was causing a rather unwanted reaction. It was like watching a leopard. Tight muscles glided under sun kissed skin, giving the boy remarkable strength, swiftness and a subtle lethal grace. He was covered in a light sheen of sweat and his breathing was irregular, a sight that conjured up erotic images in Byakuya's mind. He could feel the aggression from Ichigo through their link and that was waking up his own beast, who wanted nothing more than to try and dominate Ichigo, who currently thought himself stronger.
By sheer willpower, Byakuya was able to stay still and when Ichigo was finally knocked out he took a deep calming breath. No longer being bombarded by aggression he found himself more in control of his own emotions. He would have to inform Ichigo soon of what his emotions did to him so the younger male could watch himself and keep in check until something could be done about the unfinished blood link. Once Ichigo was finally calm, he leaned against one of the rocks to wait. It seemed his presence wasn't needed. He knew that he would have to take the boy home or at least explain to Kisuke the situation so that the elder vampire didn't do anything rash again. Speaking of Kisuke, Byakuya felt like the man was still trying to get dominated in his current pose.
Sighing in aggravation he touched his forehead once again, how very bothersome. When Ichigo asked what had happened Byakuya looked around and then back to the small group. It seemed he did not remember what he had done, which was understandable. Most vampires who went into a frenzy didn't remember what they had done. Isshin went on to explain and Kisuke filled in the blanks, by the end Ichigo just looked between the two. Clearly he wasn't sure what to think.
"Ano…. Kuchiki-Taicho, Urahara-sama. A meeting has been called and it's mandatory." A small fragile looking male with short black hair and concerned eyes bowed politely at the two and as he straightened up he kept his head low and looked to the others.
"Oh, Kurosaki-sama, you have also been asked to join." He gave a nervous laugh and Byakuya sighed once again.
"Thank you Hanataro, we'll be there shortly." Kisuke said as the boy bowed again and quickly disappeared to deliver the message to anyone else he hadn't gotten to yet. Once the boy was gone Kisuke turned to everyone else with a sly smile.
"I think it would be best to not tell anyone else about this little…. Incident." He said with a chuckle.
Byakuya had to agree with that. If anyone else found out that Ichigo had that much strength he would either be killed because he was be seen as a threat or forced to join their ranks, something clearly Isshin didn't want and neither did Byakuya. The boy was too temperamental and as such affected Byakuya. And if the boy was under the constant strain of working for the Gotei 13, Byakuya would surely lose his patience. If would be best to keep this quiet until things were set up correctly.
"Well that's fine by me, but before we go you both should get some clothes." Isshin said and Kisuke just laughed at him.
"Oh come now, I'm sure everyone has seen me naked at one time or another."
"Yes, but I'm sure Captain Commander doesn't want to see your dick dangling."
"Good point, he might just cut it off." Byakuya shook his head at the blonde who mockingly defended his manhood before picking up his clothes to get dressed.
"Will Tessai be okay here alone?" Ichigo said as he looked over at the large healing vampire, who was still unconscious.
"He'll be fine. If anything he'll take this time to regain his strength, it's not every day he uses all his energy on Kido. It was a good work out for him." Kisuke said as he pulled on the last of his clothing.
Ichigo nodded, he felt bad for apparently beating the older gentlemen up, but as it had been explained to him he wasn't in his right mind. Racking a hand through his hair he let a soft sigh pass his parted lips. Thing's just kept getting worse it seemed, no wonder his father wanted to keep him from this world. Thinking about his dad he looked over at him as Isshin got out of the hot spring with his clothing drenched in water.
"Hey goat face, what were you doing here in the first place?" At the question he saw his dad tense up.
"Uhhhh… you see, I came here to see Kisuke…. He's uh… got in a new shipment of…. Uh…"
"Blood supplements and since he should be running out soon he came to pick some more up, right Isshin." Kisuke piped in, finishing what he father clearly couldn't.
Ichigo looked between his father and Kisuke, clearly they were hiding something, but Ichigo decided that if his dad was hiding something it was better not to ask, unless he wanted another surprise like being a half breed vampire. Accepting the explanation he crawled out of the hot spring. His whole body screamed at him to stay in the water and let it continue to heal his torn muscles and damaged body. Because he wasn't a full vampire when he had transformed, he over exerted his human body, at least that was he thought. It was a reasonable explanation for his current predicament. The body using much more strength then it could handle and thus started to tear apart. Clenching his jaw he ignored the pain of movement and slowly stood. His dad helped him stand and for that he was grateful.
The feeling of someone staring at him made him look over his shoulder to Byakuya, who looked rather conflicted. He had a small tinge of red on his cheeks, his eyes averted, only to look back to him, then down, then to the side. Ichigo blinked a few times, trying to figure out what the hell had the raven so frustrated and then the cold air hit him and he instantly realized. Once again, heat rose to his face as he quickly moved over to where his Hakama laid neatly folded. He quickly pulled them on, tied the back first and then the front. Once covered he turned back towards the group, his father was laughing, Kisuke was smirking and Byakuya still refused to even look in his direction.
"Shut up!" He growled at his dad who only laughed harder.
Storming over the older male he slammed his fist into the top of his head, silencing him. Once that was taken care of he grabbed the back of his father shirt and started to drag the dazed man. He didn't make it far before he stopped and looked back at Kisuke.
"How the hell do we get back upstairs?"
Byakuya felt his hunger spike as Ichigo climbed out of the hot spring. This wasn't hunger for blood though, but for his body. A hunger he had long ago forgotten. He tried to keep his eyes averted from Ichigo's behind, but as a droplet of water travelled down from his neck he couldn't help but follow it. Already bruises had formed on the orangette's back, but even so Byakuya found them appealing and when his gaze finally came to the male rump he almost jumped the male right then a there. The only thing that kept him from doing so was when Isshin helped the boy up the rest of the way.
Clenching his jaw he felt heat tinge his cheeks as the boy looked back at him and caught him staring. He averted his eyes quickly hoping to regain some of his dignity. With hurried footsteps he knew the boy had finally realized he was naked and went to get dressed. A large part of him was happy about that, where another part was a little annoyed. Ichigo quickly dressed and when Isshin started to laugh Byakuya looked at the man strangely. Maybe it was a father thing to laugh at your own son's embarrassment. Ichigo didn't stand for it though and punched the man on top of his head. He then proceeded to drag Isshin towards the exit.
When Ichigo questioned on how to get back upstairs he looked over a Kisuke. The boy wouldn't be able to make the jump on his own and with Isshin now dazed, both of them would have to carry someone. Kisuke made the decision for him, going forward and picking up the stunned Isshin and throwing him over his shoulders.
"Like this." He said before launching himself into the air towards the whole in the ceiling that led to the shop.
Byakuya stepped behind Ichigo, who was staring at the ceiling in disbelief. Before the boy could question on how the hell he was supposed to do that Byakuya took him into his arms, picking Ichigo up bridal style.
"Whoa, shouldn't this be the other way around pretty boy?" Ichigo said, earning a stern look from Byakuya before he launched himself into the air towards the hole in the ceiling. A satisfied smirk formed on Byakuya' s lips as the boy tensed in his arms and even clutched the front of his shirt. If they didn't have a meeting to go to, Byakuya might have just taken the boy back to the estate and make him realize he wasn't some weak pretty boy, but a rather demanding vampire. That would have to wait however, unless he wanted to suffer Captain Commander's wrath for missing a mandatory meeting.
End Chapter.
Author's note:
Hey guy's, Once again I want to say thank you to every one who faved, followed and commented. It doesn't seem like much, but it really does help with the creation of this story. If I know people are still interested I'm more adept to continue the story. I hope I'm not going to fast, being to random or going to slow for you guys ^^.
Anyway's thanks again ^^